Spring has arrived! And, like clockwork, the swallows have returned. Two days before the beginning of the official calendar springtime, I woke to hear swallows chirping outside my bedroom window. They had returned to last years nest under the eaves. And flower-wise, spring has begun early here at Swallows Nest. Some of our spring bloomers are already in full swing.
The Maui Sunsets have begun to really glow in the last week. I just love these Leucadendrons!
Even the waratahs have begun to bloom. They are around a fortnight earlier than they were last year with the Telopea Speciosissima being the first to flower. I love using these flowers and I'm looking forward to the creative possibilities of using them for a spring wedding or two!
In this bunch you can see some of the newly blooming spring flowers I've picked this week - *Leucadendron Gandoggeri which are beautifully papery and will continue to lighten until they are a clear bright cream. *Telopea Speciosissima which are lighter if you pick them early, with a rosy pink colour and a beautiful rounded shape. *Berzelia or Button Bush which are still green but will change as they flower to a soft fluffy white. *Leucadendron Argenteum or Silver Tree is a beautiful foliage leucadendron which is bright and soft and reminds me of shimmering shot silk fabric. *Thryptomene is still going strong and coming to the end of its flowering time. Almost completely laden with tiny white flowers, it now looks like a bush covered in snow. *Phyllica is a wonderfully soft feathery plant that "flowers" in late winter and looks like a starburst.
The swallows will be here for the next six months - "fair" weather friends for the spring and summer. They are just one of the indicators of the progression of the seasons here on Swallows Nest Farm.
Welcome to Spring!!
